I am passionate about educating both current and future health care professionals on the care of patients living with the disease of obesity.
If you’re a patient struggling with overweight or obesity, you need health care providers who are knowledgeable and skilled in giving you the most effective treatments.
Recently I was invited to update the NIH Office of Obesity Research on the status of obesity education in medical schools as part of their monthly Virtual Speaker Series.
Because the demands of treating patients are increasing yet obesity curricula in medical schools remain insufficient to meet these demands, this is a timely topic.
In my presentation, titled Taking a Comprehensive Approach to Obesity Medical Education, I covered various topics ranging from using non-biased, non-judgmental communication skills, developing core competencies and overcoming barriers.
We need innovative approaches to educate both current and future health care professionals on the care of patients struggling with overweight and obesity.
Here, I’d like to share some of my current projects:
1-Leading a 2-Year Quality Improvement Project, Called FORWARD
Along with several colleagues, I am helping to lead an innovative, two-year quality improvement project called FORWARD to develop, test and disseminate obesity medical education curricula designed for medical schools.
I am working with 10 medical schools from around the country that represent diversity in geography, size, public vs private funding, and traditional and osteopathic medicine.
Our goal is to create up-to-date, competency-based training in the science and practice of obesity care.
2-Developing a Systems Approach to Obesity Care
At my Northwestern Medicine (NM) healthcare institution, we are developing a system-wide approach to obesity care.
This approach spans the delivery of obesity care at the primary care level to referral to an obesity specialty program.
Specialty programs incorporate a multispecialty team approach with lifestyle support, pharmacotherapy and bariatric surgery.
The aim is to ensure that all patients with obesity who present to NM have their needs met regarding treatment options for weight management.
These two initiatives, FORWARD and the NM Systems approach, work hand in hand to educate future physicians and provide obesity care resources for patients.
3-Writing a Book to Help Busy Clinicians Manage Patients with Overweight and Obesity
My next book, titled Patient Centered Weight Management: The Six Factor Professional Program and Toolkit, will be published by the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics in early 2025.
Through this book, we hope to fill the gap to help more health care providers with varied backgrounds become skilled in providing effective and efficient patient centered weight management care.
RK
Robert Kushner, MD
